A Guarantee is not a Guarantee...

[slm wjd]

We booked a Concierge Class Guarantee room, category XC, through a travel agent group booking for the Solstice sailing on April 24. Paid $300 more for this room over a regular veranda because we enjoy the added amenities and just need 2 more points toward Elite status (the CC room counts as 1 point plus the 1 point for the 7 day trip). We were told numerous times that we would get "Concierge Class or better" with this booking. We aren't too picky about room location as most, if not all, Concierge Class rooms are in nice locations.

 

I became skeptical when about a week ago we were called by the travel agent asking if we would be willing to go on Royal Caribbean's Oasis departing a day earlier, different itinerary, in a regular balcony cabin, no other offer to sweeten the deal. Apparently the 4/24 Solstice trip was overbooked. We were unwilling to make this change due to lower category room, rebooking ordeal with airline tickets, lack of Captain's Club points, and hotel room pre/post, not to mention an extra day off work because of travel days involved.

 

I printed my travel docs off Celebrity's website last night and the code still showed XC, Concierge Class Guarantee. This morning, I checked and was more than surprised to find we have been assigned a Sunset Veranda room on the Sunrise deck. No Concierge Class rooms are on this floor.

 

After multiple calls to the travel agent, we were offered a shipboard credit not equivalent to the extra we paid for CC but were promised that all the CC amenities would still apply.

 

Question is, will they really come through with that promise? Can a Stateroom Attendant on a non CC floor really be expected to deliver the CC benefits to just one room? I'm guessing most if not all of those extras will fall through the cracks and not happen.

 

So is this really a huge deal? No, not in the grand scheme of things. It is just a vacation after all. However, I believe in getting what I paid for, particularly when it was guaranteed but not delivered through no fault of my own.

 

This isn't going to ruin our trip, but I'm curious about whether others are or have been "in this boat". Can Celebrity really deliver on this promise? I'm losing faith since they don't live up to the promise that a guaranteed room category is actually guaranteed.

[Garrick]

I think you'll be fine,,,the cabin stewards seem to do a very good job with special requests and the cc benefits would be a special request straight from their boss.

 

I think you can do a great deal to insure proper treatment if you immediately let the captains club rep aboard know you have some concern about things possibly falling thru the cracks. She'll undoubtedly mention it to the hotel director, and it will get reinforced all the way down to your particular cabin steward, and the supplies will be there for him or her.

 

See you aboard, we're on that sailing also.

[Gonzo70]

Wow, that really sucks. I have not heard of that happening before. I think Celebrity should have done more for you. Has your TA contacted the Resolutions Department yet? They in the past have been very helpful to myself and others when problems have arisen. I think you have a very legitimate complaint and if they are not able to provide you with a Concierge Class room, they should either upgrade you or provide you with a very hefty OBC. Hopefully your TA can work out something more just for you. This is a situation where a good TA can really come in handy.

 

Good luck and keep us posted. :)

[ShadowzBtlr]

I believe that your issue is with your TA and not Celebrity. You did a group booking, where your TA reserved cabins in various categories and was expected to sell only the cabins that the TA reserved. As the previous poster suggested, see the Front Desk or the Captain’s Club rep for a resolution. The cabin steward does not usually have the authority to make “special” arrangements.

[alcpa1]

OP,

I really think that the TA let you down. I know you are leaving soon but I would give it another try to either have a CC cabin reinstated or increase the OBC.

As far as the cabins go they will be the same size. I love the aft verandas on the Millie class ships but I understand the Solstice class ship's aft verandas are not as large. The thing that bothers me more is the fact that they are all connecting cabins.

I think you are well within your rights to keep at the TA to make things right.

You did not get what you financially contracted for and since you were involved in a group booking I think this is a TA issue.

Good luck

[tjunmin]

OP

 

I think it is great that you have the positive attitude that in the grand schema of things, this will not ruin your vacation.

 

I do believe that the TA should honor the contract. A Concierge Class Guarantee room includes not only CC cabins, but also AQ cabins and suites. Hopefully you will get this resolved to your satisfaction.

 

Happy cruising!

 

Thom

[Gonzo70]

I missed the part about this being a travel agent group booking when I first read the OP's post; I do agree with the other posts that this is more likely a blunder by the TA than by Celebrity. OP, I would pressure the TA to make a better resolution to this issue.

[excitedofharpenden]

The thing that bothers me more is the fact that they are all connecting cabins.

Not an issue on these class of ships because of the clever design. The "connecting" part is a vestibule at the entrance to each pair of cabins that can be combined as a joint doorway if necessary. Otherwise just left as it is each cabin has a separate door and more importantly no extra door in the cabin for sound issues.

 

Phil

[cardiffmatch]

I would agree that this is something you need to take your TA to task on. I'd not heard of an XC until the last couple of weeks when we've been considering a last minute trip. It's quite clear from the online TA that I use and from my land-based TA's advice that XC means "guarantee comfort balcony". The SV balconies count as "comfort balcony" on the screens I've been looking at as well as on the sea scanning website which shows you all available rooms.

 

That said, you'll have a lovely time. Brilliant view over the wake, enviable position. Fanastic ships. Enjoy your holiday!

[excitedofharpenden]

 

Question is, will they really come through with that promise? Can a Stateroom Attendant on a non CC floor really be expected to deliver the CC benefits to just one room? I'm guessing most if not all of those extras will fall through the cracks and not happen.

 

Hopefully they'll get this sorted out for you. There is no difference in the cabins except the CC extras you'll receive which are easily sorted out. Only one thing springs to mind that may be less easy to achieve and that is the CC cabins have footstools on the balcony to go with the chairs and the SVs do not. Not sure how easy it will be to source those for you. I had an SV on Eclipse and the balcony size was just fine. Some SV balconies are wider than others. Not sure which cabin you've been assigned. There are some photos of SV 6315 in the picture link in my signature (page 7 I think).

 

I know time is short now, but if you could get something in writing from Celebrity that they'll afford you the CC perks that would help because the ship may not know about it and this will help you to get it sorted if they don't.

 

Phil

[schmidlapp]

Don't blame the TA, we are in the same situation.

We booked CC guarantee on the same sailing. We were first offered a deck 6 balcony (probably obstructed view) which my TA refused to accept and then were finally offered a deck 9 catagory B plain veranda. We have been told this is our only option as the ship truly has been overbooked. This is totally Celebritys fault.

 

We were also offered CC benefits and I questioned how they are going to pull this off as well. In addition we were offered a measly $100 obc which in their dollars costs them next to nothing. We are trying to not let this ruin our trip but it has already stressed me out. I thought a vacation is supposed to be a stress reliever. Way to go Celebrity!!!

So far not even an apology for what they have done.

 

If you read the benefits of CC one of the most important to us is the expanded room sevice menu. We plan on breakfast on our veranda and when I order items that are not normally on our cat B menu and am told they are not available to non CC cabins, I'm going to blow a gasket. (hopefully this won't happen) I'm normally a very positive person but in this case I don't know how they can pull it off. Our documents do not even say that we booked CC. We are taking a printout of our original booking that says CC.

By the way, this trip will put us into "elite" status for Captains Club.

They sure found a new way to reward loayalty....:mad:

[Lsimon]

... Paid $300 more for this room over a regular veranda because we enjoy the added amenities and just need 2 more points toward Elite status...

 

Easy for me to say, but... I'd really push for an extra OBC equal to a minimum of the price difference and the extra point if that is important to you. I'd still want to get the CC amenities they can provide (menu, sparkling wine and linens). The other physical items such as veranda stools and table are probably impractical for them to get. Get this all in writing from your TA. This would be a very reasonable request given their breach of contract. If your TA can't get this for you then they should refund the price difference to you out of their commissions since they are not delivering what they sold you. This may be Celebrity's error and fault but it is your TA's responsibility to get it straightened out - that is why you are booking through them.

 

If you don't get the CC amenities immediately please don't "blow a gasket". Instead discuss this nicely with guest relations - they will react a lot better to someone approaching this request reasonably than someone blowing their gasket. If you have any issues with the first person you talk to then request a conversation with your Asst. Chief Housekeeper (that is the person who has the authority to have the cabin steward do special things for you) and/or a guest relations officer such as the Guest Relations Manager, Asst. Hotel Director or Hotel Director.

[dkjretired]

I would also get it in writing from Celebrity not your TA that you will be given all the amenities. I would also try and get pushed up t0 AQ instead of CC since you get all the amenities plus.

[slm wjd]

My understanding is this snafu is Celebrity's fault due to overbooking, not the TA's. Our rep was mortified to find out about this and has been wonderful in trying to resolve with Celebrity. She said Celebrity thought they were doing us a favor by putting us in the Sunset Veranda room, when that was actually the last place we wanted to be as we have sailed Solstice before in an aft veranda and did not care for it due to lack of shade, spray while at sea, and occasional soot from the exhaust. Aft verandas, though, on Summit and Millennium are incredible due to the size of the veranda. We were provided an e-mail from the TA specifying that we will receive CC amenities and the additional 1 point Captain's Club credit for the CC booking. We do plan on contacting the hotel manager upon boarding and the idea about contacting the Captain's Club rep as well is excellent, I did not know such a person existed on board. Again, this isn't going to ruin the trip, just very disappointing to be excited about an aspect of what we were promised to quite possibly not have it delivered. I am keeping a positive attitude and will post during or after the cruise to let everyone know what actually happened.

[curiouscat]

Ok... this is really strange and not good...

 

Could you please update about your experiences and how they handled this....

 

Thanks

 

CC

[zebra36]

Sorry to hear you are in this situation. You should try your hardest to get this resolved before you sail. What has been offered vs the $300 more you paid does not seem equitable. I would hope you at least get the $300 refunded if you cannot get into a CC cabin and the perks offered remain for your troubles. Good luck and I do hope you enjoy your cruise no matter what the final outcome.

[JoyB]

Wow. thats crazy!!! I am looking forward to meeting you, I will be on this sailing with you. Lets talk, I can wait to see how this turns out.

[Lsimon]

My understanding is this snafu is Celebrity's fault due to overbooking, not the TA's. Our rep was mortified to find out about this and has been wonderful in trying to resolve with Celebrity...

 

 

.... She said Celebrity thought they were doing us a favor by putting us in the Sunset Veranda room, when that was actually the last place we wanted to be...

 

...We were provided an e-mail from the TA specifying that we will receive CC amenities and the additional 1 point Captain's Club credit for the CC booking. We do plan on contacting the hotel manager upon boarding and the idea about contacting the Captain's Club rep as well is excellent, I did not know such a person existed on board. Again, this isn't going to ruin the trip, just very disappointing to be excited about an aspect of what we were promised to quite possibly not have it delivered. I am keeping a positive attitude and will post during or after the cruise to let everyone know what actually happened.

 

If I were your TA I'd have been mortified too - as she bears responsibility even if she is not at fault - after all she is the cruise line's agent and is representing them to you.

 

If you had such negative feelings about being in the aft then why would you have taken a guarantee? There are AFT CC rooms too that are extremely close (a deck above) the SV rooms.

 

Sounds like you have everything in order. I'd still push for the monetary reduction but, like you, wouldn't let that ruin by time at all. It just isn't that big a deal in the scheme of things - but would still push for it on principle!

[Greghouseo]

This is quiteinteresting.

I am a UK travel agent and the I often take groups out.............. they will never allocate Guarantee cabins to the group, the allocation is always for a category of cabin with specific number, so I have never ever come across this problem before.

[sarahc78]

Wow very sorry to hear about this. I am shocked that they would offer you book RCI rather than keep w/ the gurantee you booked. That is really strange.

 

Was it $300 pp or $300 total that you paid for the CC gurantee? I agree w/ other posters who suggested you request an OBC in the amount you paid for the CC amenities.

 

Please keep us posted on what happens, I am very interested to see how they handle this situtation.

[BEAV]

I would definitly have the TA work with Celebrity (including going to the RCCL resolution department suggested earlier, if need be) to provide you with on board credits equal to the fare differential between category booked vs. category you'll actually be sailing.

 

From what I've read, this is a Celebrity goof, not the TA. But now it's time for the TA to step up to the plate and go to bat for you. Requesting on board credits equal to the fare differential is in no way asking for the moon here...

[reesciteach]

We are booked on the same sailing in a XC gty and were assigned a C2 cabin earlier this week. We weren't contacted about the overbooking, but if we had been I'd be jumping ship. Oasis or Allure was my first choice for this vacation, but would have cost us over $2000 more so we decided to give Celebrity a try. Darn... wish they would have called me. I'm looking forward to this cruise, but every time I see a RCL commercial I wish they would have been more reasonable. Next time... Hope your situation works out for you or maybe you can bump me to RCL and have a nice midship C2:D

[slm wjd]

A quick update...Celebrity came through today. Got a call saying we have now been assigned a CC room, however the onboard credit they offered has been removed. That's only fair as we are now getting what we paid for. Very happy with the new room and location, plus there will be no fighting to get the amenities in a non-CC room. Kudos to Celebrity!

[BEAV]

Thanks for the follow up, and glad everything has been resolved so that you can now focus on your vacation! Have a great cruise! :)

[schmidlapp]

No change for us, we're still in a 1B with our CC guarantee booking.

We have been promised repeatedly that we will get CC benefits even though we were put in a regular balcony. Not much we can do at this

point but play it out and see what happens. Hopefully all will be as they

promise. I will not to blow a gasket and be polite if there are any issues.